Thursday, January 6, 2011

I've been all into this bunting stuff for the past month or so. I think it's fair to say that I've learned some things, though not as much as I may like. Briefly, I would like to examine some Yankee hitters with the bunting metrics I've been using. Data are from 2008-2010; use this as your glossary.

Attempt%

Bunt Attempts

Fair%

Hit%

Out%

Sac%

Bunt Runs

Bunt Runs / 100

Brett Gardner

.052

73

.507

.243

.378

.378

-1.73

1.16

Derek Jeter

.013

45

.489

.364

.091

.545

1.91

7.76

Curtis Granderson

.014

41

.463

.211

.368

.421

-1.29

0.37

Ramiro Pena

.056

31

.323

.400

.100

.500

0.25

4.32

Francisco Cervelli

.047

31

.613

.158

.211

.632

-0.60

1.61

Nick Swisher

.007

21

.619

.231

.231

.538

0.06

3.83

Watching Yankee games on television, I've always assumed that Gardner is a below average bunter, or at least that he's below average at getting the ball in play. Turns out that he's right at the league average on this front, and he also turns a higher amount of fair bunts into hits than does the average player. His speed helps with that. Jeter and Pena look like they're good at avoiding bunt outs, though Pena hits way too many foul bunts. Cervelli is great at getting the ball in play, and is rarely asked to do more than sacrifice. Swisher bunts extremely infrequently and has also shown the ability to get the ball in play. Granderson looks like an average bunter all around.